Any suggestions of things to do in Amsterdam?

I will be on the Nov 23rd to Dec 2nd tour of London & Paris plus Amsterdam. Since the Amsterdam section of tour is unguided, does anyone have a few places they loved while being there? Did anyone rent a bike or just used the tram card provided by Contiki? Also, if you went in the winter time, how cold was it?

How can you go to Amsterdam and NOT go to the Red Light District? haha! Your Contiki guide will take you there as part of your walking tour anyways. It’s actually a pretty neat experience and quite the eye opener. I highly suggest you go there, if not to visit the coffee shops, but just to walk around and see everything….including the hookers

Well, it wasn’t going to skip it but it wasn’t one of highlights for me to see. Keep in mind I have never been to a strip club :) I will be taking plenty pictures of the scenery there but not sure how comfortable I would be of that genre. I’ll check the coffee shops as well but will not be trying the “special” ones. Never smoked that either. haha. Even in Prague, I was in the store where they served Absinthe drink, took plenty of pictures but did not try :)

I’m doing the London, Paris, and Amsterdam extension. However, the Amsterdam section is not guided :/ As to why I wanted to see what anyone suggested as the favorite things or what place you loved the most that wish you could be there right now. :)

Thanks :) Believe me, I have had my fair share of stories on my past 2 contiki tours :) They were wild and crazy and I dont have any regrets. The good thing about contiki, is that there is a little something for everyone. Everyone lets loose in their own speical way.

I did the london/paris Amsterdam tour in 2009. There was about 12 of us that went to Amsterdam, there is a tour guide that meets you at the train station who will give you information and advice on what to do.
We definitely used the Tram card the hotel isn’t in walking distances. There is this Square that the tour guide will tell you about.. i cant remember what it is called. But i highly recommend going there. It is in the middle of everything. It has a bunch of bars/coffee shops and live music outside.
When i was there my group went to the I am Amsterdam sign (word of advice it is extremely busy and really hard to take a picture of the sign without random people in the same shot lol) We did the Heineken tour (was so much fun!!!) we did the Anne frank house (the line up to get in was long but if you like history you will enjoy this, they actually have the Anne frank diary on display!) ** The rest of the time we were there we just walked around during the day, checked out some shops than at night we would go to a few of the bars. I recommend walking thru the red district just to say you have been. Its obviously not that exciting but it is quite strange to see topless women dancing in the windows. (don’t take pictures)
Another word of advice though for this whole tour is make sure you do all the optionals! I highly recommend it, especially Moulin Rouge – I dont like musicals but the whole dinner/show is a great experience.
I hope you enjoy your trip!

Thank you so much for the detailed information Emma. I will def keep those tips in mind. I was debating on the Moulin Rouge dinner. It is probably one of the most expensive optionals i have seen in all my contiki experience but since you recommend it, I will go. :)
Thank you Rebecca :) I will consider the House of Bol as well :)

hi maryam, me and a frd did Amsterdam bak in May dis yr and i loved it. Anne Frank is a must as is the Van Gogh Museum, we rented some bikes now it was just for a few hrs but it was so much fun. We went to Vondelpark and it was beautiful- not sure wat da weath wil b like next mth. We also did the Heniken Brewery and dat was gud- oh and a canal cruise. The I am Amsterdam cards are handy. of course Dam Square is a must see.
Hope dis helps. Im starting one of the Australian Contiki trips this wknd so cannot wait. It wil b my first, excited but slightly anxious also.